Shivani, Zoya and Gia got inside the bus only to find the void driver's seat.
Dandi was not on the wheel and everyone was asleep which came as a bit surprise for them. Dandi has been driving for years and belongs to the same village as them, they knew better than to believe that he just went out leaving everyone asleep.
"Maybe he woke Mikesh or Trishna but they fell back asleep." Zoya said. Clearly she was having the same thoughts as Shivani.
"Probably, I'll go and see around. " Shivani said and got down the bus.
"Stay close," Zoya said and she gave back a thumb up.
Shivani was looking around for Dandi having bus on close watch when she heard a quiet murmur from behind her. Someone was behind the wall, she thought to herself and walked over to peek.
"This man will serve the purpose of Queen Martha." One of the 5 men wearing black jumpsuit dress with a cloth tied up on the waist was whispering to others while tying a person with jute ropes.
She shifted closer to see the poor man who was lying unconscious on the floor.
This was the same man in the car that they almost had a accident with. The suited one, who was better mannered. The serious, intimidating guy then seemed so vulnerable and alone.
However much she felt like running away, she couldn't leave him alone with these probable dangerous goons.
Shivani took out the mobile phone from her hand bag and dialled Zoya so that she can keep and eye on these people while Zoya called for help.
Before she could dial Zoya, her phone lighted up with incoming call. She picked it up and covered her mouth and turned away to prevent startling the goons.
"Hello Shivani, Dandi is here come back." Zoya said before Shivani could utter a word.
"Zoya, call help and meet m-," Shivani's phone was snatched away from her hand, she instantly turned to see the person who threw her phone on the floor with a jerk and jabbed it hard with his sharp knife.
Shivani just stared in shock at the broken mobile phone and then at the attacker. His eyes were the perfect visual of burning fire.
The aggression was out of the world and Shivani was speechless at the sight.
Suddenly a filthy cloth covered her mouth and she felt dizzy on spot. Shivani has never smelled chloroform in her life but after watching all those shows and movies she was pretty sure it was that.
Soon she fell into dark nothingness.
Her head felt heavy, her body was numb, what has happened?
Shivani was having a hard time opening her eyes and remember what happened to bring her into that state. She felt the floor vibrating, she was in a moving vehicle.
She tried to move her leg but they were tied up and hands too. Now she was scared. She tried to scream for help but, her mouth was taped. Most helpful scenario ever, she thought to herself.
Slowly everything started coming back to her mind, dark alley, 5 man talking about serving some queen Martha, the helpless suit guy, and then her getting spotted by them.
Damn, she was kidnapped. Shivani started freaking out at the thought, her eyes popped open and she shifted vigorously to get into more alert position than laying flat.
"Woah woah, there's no much space here for that wierd kind of dance that you are trying." Someone spoke from close beside her and she looked at the source.
The suit guy from the car and then almost unconscious in the alley. He came closer to Shivani and untapped her lips. He looked beat and weak, blood was dripping from bruises on almost all his body parts.
Shivani pushed herself into sitting position.
"Suit guy? Why are you here?" Shivani spoke up abruptly.
"You asking me? I saw the little stunt you did there. Calling for help standing right in the earshot. Even I could hear you whisper given the almost dead state I was in." The suit guy said with a grim look on his face.
"I was trying to save you and you're welcome by the way." Shivani mocked at his thankless words.
"Yes I'm sorry. Thank you for keeping me company on our way to hell." The words were hard to believe but sounded so true.
"Way to hell? What do you mean? Where are they taking us? Can we get out of here? Who are these people?" Shivani asked back to back and finally took a long deep breath.
"Tell me please. I've to go home." Shivani requested when he stayed quiet.
"I don't know which question to answer first. And do you think I don't want to go home but there is no way. At least not now." He said without bothering to look at her.
Shivani felt irritated with the response and was ready with a comeback when she realized something and stopped.
"Wait, how are you not tied up?" Shivani asked looking at his unbound legs and hands.
"I was shown extra mercy after being beaten like pulp by those jerks. They didn't think it to be necessary since I can't move much any way." He said not showing much expression except wincinig a time or two accidentally moving the wrong muscles.
Shivani felt pity at his condition and decided to hold her questions for a while.
A little ray of sunlight from the hole in the box they were put in showed a few dislocated bones in his fingers and toes, left shoulder seemed dislocated as well along with infinite bruises.
Silence was getting heavier second by second now. Shivani needed to speak something or her brain will burst with all the questions it was having at that time.
"Umm, I know you are in a lot of pain but I really want to know who is queen Martha and what purpose they want you to serve her?" Shivani looked at him keenly for answers.
After a few seconds he spoke up, " I don't know, I'm as clueless about everything as you are. They attacked me on my way and caught me off guard."
The words from his mouth sounded like words out of a dead corpses.
"But how are we going to get back home if we don't know where we are going?"
"I don't know."
"Then we got to find a way. Try to get off this truck," Shivani said with confusion as she didn't knew what that vehicle was really.
"I can't do it right now."
"Why not? So you are just going to sit there. Okay whatever, I'm going find some way to get out of here." Shivani was angry at the suit guy who was now without coat, for not even trying and decided to look for a way out on her own.
"Well if you could just untie my legs and hands." Shivani said still exasperated at him.
He pulled himself up a bit wincing in pain, Shivani shifted closer to him to give easy access to her ties.
With great difficulty and more than a few dislocated bones he unbound her hands and legs.
Delighted at having her body part unbound again, without wasting another second Shivani jumped up and hit her head hard on the wooden board above. She shrunk back to sitting position, wincing in pain.
"This area is way smaller than I assumed." Shivani said rubbing her head and noticed the suit guy trying to hid a faint smile building up on his face.
"Okay, you can laugh at me. I don't think you do that more often even without a thousand cuts and bruises."
"You are right. I won't ask how though."
"I read people instantly. I'm a teacher, Shivani." Shivani beamed with pride.
"A teacher."
"No offence but normally at this part of conversation, the another person gives away something about himself."
"You want to know about me?" He raised an eyebrow as if really surprised.
"Yes of course, since we most probably are going to die together."
"Well, my name is Ray and we are not going to die together."
Shivani was assured as well as amused at the strange introduction.
"So you believe we can get away from these people. How? Do you have a plan?"
"No I said we are not going to die together, I didn't say we are not going to die. I heard a few of their talks and it didn't seem like they plan on killing me yet but you are useless to them." Ray said clarifying his statement.
"Why didn't they kill me then? Why are they taking me with you?" Shivani asked, panic rising, choking her from speaking.
"They can't without their queen's permission."
"I need to find a way out. My dadi is old and my friends and students must be worried." Shivani stood up again, this time being careful and bending over a bit to avoid wooden board above.
The space was really small, 4×3×4 feet in length, breadth and height respectively.
Shivani peaked from the hole through which a ray of sunlight was illuminating the box.
"This looks like countryside area, weird." Shivani said out loud for Ray.
"What's weird?" Ray asked trying to sit up straight.
"We are going right into the mountains. I mean there's no other way." Suddenly the truck came to a sudden holt and they both were jerked forward.
After a few seconds of holding breath, Shivani tried to push open the sides of the box they were kept in.
"Open up please. Tell us what you want and let us go." Shivani yelled hoping to catch somebody's attention.
A murmur started outside somewhere and they both went quiet.
A little window at the top of the box opened and someone's deep hoarse voice echoed the box, "Save your energy to face queen Martha. Any struggle to escape would be useless." And the window went shut as soon as the sound ceased.
"Hey hey please, just talk to us. Tell us where you are taking us and why?" Shivani said while trying to beat the window open.
Ray, with the support of the wooden walls, pushed himself up and moved towards the window but stumbled and fell forward.
"Easy, I got you." Shivani saved him before touching the floor and put him down gently.
"Thank you." Ray said and yelled to call back the deep hoarse voice. "I don't know you people or why you attacked me. Just let us go and your secret will remain intact. Otherwise people will find us and you too."
The same voice came back, this time with the window closed. "You are at the mercy of our queen now. She decides what to do with you two. And nobody can ever. find. us."
The truck started again with a jerk and both of them sat down helplessly, realising the talk will this man would go nowhere.
Now they just needed to wait for these people to get them out of that box even if what's to come is even worse.